The Quest

One of the most interesting flicks out there is Jean-Jacques Annaud’s La Guerre du Feu or Quest for Fire.

SPOILER ALERT

Shot in 1981, the Quest for Fire depicts the trek of a clan of Neanderthals ambushed by a gang of Homo errectus who, coveting their womenfolk and fire, dispossess them of both.

Half the tribe is killed by the Errecti and wolves and the other half is rejoined by their Tender of the Fire, basically a bald dude with pyromaniacal tendencies, on a small island in the middle of a swamp, who delivers them the sacred embers.

‘tis important for you to know that this 80,000 years-old clan doesn’t know how to make fire; they do master however the art of keeping it alive.

The plot thickens once the sacred embers dampened by the watery elements, contrive to die out. And that is when the clan’s elder, wounded but authoritatively speaking from the height of his geriatric 32 years on Earth, outsources the task of securing fire from another source to a trusted group of three young warriors.

In this scene above, a massive ruffian attempts to dispute this by grabbing on the embers. With an economy of grunts, Paleo-Methuselah manages to persuade him to let go. And that is when, I noticed something inescapable to the naked eye.

Look at that massive Neanderthal-Hercules! What do you see? Did you notice his animal horn or bone sticking to his hairdo? Because that’s a boar tusk or some such, you see.

And this little element started me on a journey through time and space. I then had an epiphany and started connecting the dots. That’s when I realized how fucking tribal we still are. And no, do not get me wrong! Don’t you dare getting my message the wrong way!

Being tribal is fucking good. Let me explain myself.

That little ornament signified then that its wearer took pride in wearing it as the symbol of his prowess as an earning member of his clan. His clan lived because of him. If he died, chances were his tribe would suffer or even wither and die with him.

That’s how you should see that piece of horn, exclusively through that lens. A symbol of belonging to and taking pride in his position inside his clan.

Fast forward to the Neolithic. That’s when men and women, and we can safely talk about both now, that’s when they start taking pride in their aesthetics. They both seek to trim their hair, use color to paint their bodies, yes, ritualistically at first, but in the end, the outcome is our society today.

35,000 years ago, people started on a path that led to current art.

Cave-painting, self-grooming, jewelry, this natural progression validated every primate who ever mated before the dawn of civilization. That’s how and when Man progressed from a bestial feral cave-dwelling hunter, to nomadic hunter-gatherer, and finally settled down as sedentary agricultor and city builder.

And then the Metal Ages began, with Copper, Bronze, and Iron, giving out to Steel, and beyond.

And soon, Man transformed from this

into this…

Now, I know you cannot really see the connection yet. But bear with me. I promise we are close.

See those symbols on his front plate!? One is the She-Wolf who raised Romulus and Remus, at the inception of Rome. Another looks like Pegasus and whatnot. Together, these are symbols of the great warrior Maximum was. The Man was a great Roman, and like the big numbnuts from the Quest for Fire (1981), he also belonged to a tribe, albeit a much bigger one.

He belonged to the people of Rome. And those symbols on his chest proclaimed it for everyone to see.

And so the story goes, each and every man, woman and child who ever lived, wore at some point in life a trinket, a flag, a piece of jewelry, a broche, a diadem, a particular gadget or something that made him, her, or them, members of their family, clan, tribe, dinasty, people, nation, or state.

Today, we wear pins with national flags that say we are Canadian, American, Russian, Chinese, French, or Swiss.

Yesterday, we went to battle wearing the colors of the city, the standards of the army, and the insignia of the regiment.

Let’s face it, folks! This is who we are and that is what we are! We are clansmen and we belong to something greater than ourselves. Be that our family or something else, we always identify in a way that validates our convictions. We are our thoughts. We are our ideas, notions, misgivings, apprehensions! We are our Dreams!

For instance, because I love Switzerland and I believe that the Swiss Nation-Tribe is the smartest tribe out there, I wear in reverence to them, their colours, their symbols. I adhere to their modus operandi, to their ideation, and national character. I wish I was born Swiss. Alas, that was not the case. But if I had my way, if I could choose the tribe of my birth, that would be it.

And if you must know why I hold the Swiss tribe in so high regard, it’s because of the weak tribal alternatives.

Suffice to say that some of our tribes, ladies and gents, are so imbecilic, so cretinous, that they would lose their sacred lit embers in the middle of a savannah fire. That’s how dumb some of the current iterations of tribes are!

And that is why you have to be very selective in your choices. After all, one has to choose wisely, not poorly, eh!